The Darling and Other Stories eBook

“Pretend to be looking at the things,”
Nikolay Timofeitch whispers, bending down to Polinka
with a forced smile. “Dear me, you do look
pale and ill; you are quite changed. He’ll
throw you over, Pelagea Sergeevna! Or if he does
marry you, it won’t be for love but from hunger;
he’ll be tempted by your money. He’ll
furnish himself a nice home with your dowry, and then
be ashamed of you. He’ll keep you out of
sight of his friends and visitors, because you’re
uneducated. He’ll call you ‘my dummy
of a wife.’ You wouldn’t know how
to behave in a doctor’s or lawyer’s circle.
To them you’re a dressmaker, an ignorant creature.”

“Nikolay Timofeitch!” somebody shouts
from the other end of the shop. “The young
lady here wants three yards of ribbon with a metal
stripe. Have we any?”

Nikolay Timofeitch turns in that direction, smirks
and shouts:

“Yes, we have! Ribbon with a metal stripe,
ottoman with a satin stripe, and satin with a moire
stripe!”

“Oh, by the way, I mustn’t forget, Olga
asked me to get her a pair of stays!” says Polinka.